Portrait of a Girl: On Kensi Blye
by thatiranianphantom
Summary: A  hopefully  in-depth character anaylsis of our favorite juniour agent, Kensi Marie Blye.


A/N: I know what you're thinking, believe me. What the crap are you doing, starting another story, when it's long past time to update John, I'm Only Dancing. It's coming, I swear. I just got caught up in these character manifestos, and then I got distracted. I'm actually working on a Deeks on and a Densi shipper one, right now, but for now, this is one I posted on my Tumblr last night on my fave NCIS:LA character, Kensi Blye. It's not a fanfiction in the strictest sense of the word, though, more of a character analysis. I still hope you all enjoy it, though, and review if you want to see the Deeks and the Densi one! Also, message me if you'd like to know my Tumblr name, the original post has pictures that I think help add to this. Kensi Blye Character Manifesto.

**Dom**: It's hard being the new guy.

**Kensi**: Try being the new girl, they used to make me crawl into air vents, under house just because I was the smallest one, yeah. When was the last time you had to put on a bikini for an assignment, yeah, that's right, try hiding a gun in your thong.

**Kensi Herself: **

When we first meet Kensi Marie Blye, one of the first things we learn about her is she clearly loves her job. Kensi first appears in the crossover NCIS episode Legend, Part 1. She's actually the first OSP team member we see directly, as she discreetly follows a witness. As her boss makes her presence known, Kensi smiles and addresses her in a low voice.

"Hey, welcome to the party, Mace!" she grins.

From the start, the only thing we know about Kensi is that she is good at her job. She seems to be fairly accustomed to her job, so we can assume she's probably been there for a few years. We can also assume she's fairly young, but this is not confirmed for a long time, and for the first few years, we mainly base it off appearance. Kensi's line above tells us that early perceptions of her by her coworkers were only based on her appearance. Though we haven't ever gotten into Kensi's early years in the FBI, that line tells us she did spend a few years proving herself as more than just the pretty new girl. Nearly three years later, we know that Kensi is more than able to hold her own, but she is a very solitary individual. She relies on herself and herself only.

Throughout the first season, we get to know a bit more about the sole female agent on the field team. Kensi seems to fear nothing, frequently talking about how easily their ops could go wrong with a completely calm, flat affect. The season 1 episode "The Bank Job" first portrays Kensi as going to in op without complete confidence. Her long glance back to Sam and Callen speaks to what Daniela Ruah is excellent at portraying in her character: conveying a multitude of emotion in her eyes. Kensi glances back at her coworkers, needing the validation. Her eyes convey a million questions.

_Are you sure? Is this what I absolutely need to do? Will I be okay?_

Throughout the first season, Kensi rarely breaks. She seems to just let what she sees simply roll off her back. The only case that seems to get to her is the case involving the reappearance of Dominic Vail, her partner. Kensi is forced to leave Ops when she hears her former partner's cries, demonstrating a crack that we so rarely see in her armor. It doesn't last long, however, as she pulls herself together enough to join the investigation to find Dom. When she looks down to see him dead, she sits down and cries, for the first time since we met her. Yet in this case, she sits down, puts her head in her hands, and lets only a few tears out. This clearly affects her, but she seems to see it as more of a defeat, a personal failure.

However, Kensi seems to remain more guarded after Dom. When she is given a new partner, Marty Deeks, and is told that he is staying for the time being, she remarks "Deeks? That's the best they could do?"

Nonetheless, she seems to see the partnership with Deeks as a challenge. Their first scene with their true identities revealed, they stare intently at each other, as if sizing each other up.

"Crashing in the spare bedroom? Is that the best you can do? You were lucky I didn't shoot you" she challenges him, almost as if she's daring him to impress her.

"I was vamping," he responds simply.

This is another example of how prevalent Kensi's job is in her life. Once she sees Deeks as a dectective, she immediately starts looking for ways for him to prove himself to her. Deeks' competence at his job is what seems to matter most to her. Kensi prides herself on being the best at her job, and she expects the same from her coworkers. Her work is, in essence, her life, and she takes it extremely seriously.

This is what makes her clash initially with Deeks. Kensi takes things extremely seriously, and Deeks is a complete contrast to her.

This will be explored more in the Densi manifesto, as this is more about them then Kensi herself

Yet, throughout the course thus far of the Kensi/Deeks partnership, we have seen Kensi relax far more, as a person. Kensi keeps people at a distance and always has, after having to rely only on herself for over half her life. She accepted Dom, Sam and Callen as her counterparts, and to some degree as her friends, but never let them get to know her as a person. Her dating philosophy also speaks to this.

"_I _ended it," she stresses to Callen and Sam. "It wouldn't have ended well. It's pretty much over."

Nomatter how the first date goes, Kensi is in it for just that. Whether that be because she's in a completely male-dominated field and enjoys being a girl, for lack of a better term, on her own time, or whether it be because she simply is not interested in a long-term relationship at all, Kensi keeps her dates completely at arms length. In interesting contrast to her work life, she seems to _want_ them to see her as simply a beautiful woman. She lists her "skill set" on the first date, "funny, flirty, charismatic, tasteful." This is an incredible contrast to the first quote above, where she laments having fought for years to be seen as more than "the pretty girl", yet seems to more than embrace being seen as just a beautiful woman in her personal life. This seems to be the only way Kensi will allow herself to be seen by men, yet we can see Deeks cross that line constantly between personal and professional.

Throughout the course of the series, the team has separated into three partnerships, with Nell and Eric, Callen and Sam, and Kensi and Deeks. While Kensi trust all her coworkers, her and Deeks seem to share something deeper. Deeks did nothing but irritate Kensi at first, with two very contrasting personalities.

**Deeks:** You're very tightly wound. Your personal electronics are filled with intensity. You always need to drive. You set your clocks 15 minutes fast. You set my clocks 15 minutes fast. Everything is a competition. You have to have separate checks at Starbucks. You make fun of guys that order nonfat lattes. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is being your partner?

**Kensi:** Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to hear you ramble on about the 2012 apocalypse earlier this morning?

This tells us a huge amount about who Kensi is as a person. She leaves her life with almost military precision, after spending her entire childhood in a military setting. Rigor and order dictate Kensi's life, and when spending a significant amount of time with someone who appears so relaxed, Kensi seems to tense more (I personally feel Kensi and Deeks are much more alike than different, but again, we'll get to that in the Densi manifesto).

Slowly, though, thanks in large part to her relationship with Deeks, Kensi begins to soften. An excellent example is Deeks using her as a "wingman" in the park when he was, as Kensi put it "perving on those yoga bunnies."

Her first response when Deeks tells her to act as if she is breaking up with him is to say "do you know how utterly unproffesional this is?"

This is giving us a large window into the old Kensi, the tightly wound, completely professional Kensi Blye. However, she seems to let herself loose a bit, and begins to play along, with no warning.

"You cheated on me," she snaps. "With…with my brother."

The reaction on Deeks' face is immediate. He was most definitely not expecting this. Which makes sense, seeing as all he has known so far is Kensi being focused on nothing but their jobs. It's the first time we see Kensi as willing to have fun, while still in a work capacity. Then we see Kensi playing off his reaction.

She enjoys his shock, and knows she's beaten him. She walks off triumphantly, pumping her fists in the air. Deeks stands, shocked for a moment, and then smiles. This , for me, is the first time we (and Deeks) start to see Kensi start to let out her more playful personality. We see her be more willing to share her personality, that doesn't solely consist of her professional work persona.

As the seasons go on, we see Kensi become more and more willing to have fun with her team and her partner, thanks in large part to Deeks.

However, at this point, this is going much more into the Densi manifesto than simply Kensi's so we can hold this off.

**Kensi and her Father:**

Donald and Kensi Blye were extremely close, she herself has referred to him as her best friend. As such, his death was a huge blow to her, made even worse by her mother's absence. Even more so, his murderer was never caught, and as Kensi says, "I was left with nothing,"

This has formed the very core of who Kensi is. She never lets anyone in, after knowing what happened to her father and going through a decade and a half knowing the person who took him away from her was completely free. It has affected every aspect of Kensi's life, from her views on the military, to her reaction to the men in her life, to, as we now know, why she chose the career she did. The last episode was a great indicator on just how close Kensi was to her father, and how much it broke her when he died. She was very clearly the most important person in her father's life, and the loss of that relationship translates directly into how she sees the men in her life.

There is a reason Kensi refers to Sam as "the most honorable man she knows". Whether unconsciously or not, Kensi associates affiliation with the military as a sign of a good man. It's the type of man she looks for. While we can't deny Sam is a good man, he is perhaps not the most honorable man we know (take his marriage full of lies by way of example), but he is Navy SEAL and that carries over into every aspect of his life.

Don Blye's message to his daughter:

"_My home is wherever you are, baby girl."_

Kensi carries her father with her everywhere. He's in every aspect of her life, in whatever she does, what she says and in every choice she makes.

Kensi's mother is another story. If anyone has been following me for the last week or so, you know how I feel about Julia Blye. However, that's not really here nor there. The main point I want to focus on with Kensi's mother is this line:

"_It's been a really long day, Mom. But I made it."_

This really is the perfect summation of Kensi's life. Everything has been a struggle for her, and a lonely one at that. Kensi has herself, and only herself, to really rely on. She struggles through her life, but she makes it. She always makes it. The completely insurmountable, determined spirit is exactly how we have come to know and love Kensi Marie Blye.


End file.
